Could a PG Rating Have Saved Power Rangers?

Director Dean Israelite Talks About Power Ranger Film Rating

Saban’s Power Rangers will soon be available on Blue-ray and DVD and is currently on Digital, but the film didn’t do so hot in either ratings or box office sales while in theaters.

The TV show, Power Rangers, has been running since 1993 with a target audience of TV-Y7. The show includes violence, but it is toned down to meet the suitable requirements for the targeted age group. The movie brought more darkness and grit, but the violence was still mild.

In an interview with ScreenRant, director, Dean Israelite, expressed the possibility that the Power Rangers may have done better if it was Rated PG. A PG-13 rating gives the director more flexibility with story-telling, but the more adult rating may have scared off parents and their children.

“Yes, definitely. Definitely. And not only do I think it, but there’s been market studies on it, and the findings have been that if the movie were rated PG- I don’t want to go into the specific numbers- but if the movie had been rated PG, there would have been more traffic. I think parents were unsure if they could bring their kids to the movie, which surprised me, because the movie is a tame PG-13.

We did a lot of preview screenings, and to me, it felt like a seven-year-old might be scared, but in a good way. They liked that they were scared of Rita, but they still came out of the movie enjoying it, they liked what was going on. I think we really tread that line well, so it was disappointing that parents didn’t know that they could take their kids to it. I’m hoping now, with it coming out on DVD and Blu-ray, and On Demand, that parents will feel more comfortable. That maybe they’ll check it out for themselves and then see that it’s suitable.”

The new Power Rangers interpretation of Rita may have been more frightening than Ivan Ooze, but included some of the same campiness we loved about the original.

There are some debatable moments that may seem too adult for a younger audience, like the masturbating cow joke that started the film, and some light swearing, but overall, the film is fun.

Saban’s Power Rangers will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 27 and can be found now on Digital.